SC orders legal proceedings against witnesses for false testimony

by APP , (Last Updated March 20, 2019)

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued its detailed judgement over the legal status of false testimony and ordered legal proceedings under perjury against any witness found to have resorted to deliberate falsehood.

The verdict was authored by Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa in reference to a case of false testimony of Assistant Sub-Inspector Khizar Hayat.

The SC in its judgement ordered courts not to allow any leniency against those resorting to false testimonies and to reject testimonies if even a part of them were based on lies.

The order stated, “A judicial system, which permits deliberate falsehood, is doomed to fail and a society, which tolerates it, is destined to self-destruct. Truth is the foundation of Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 200 of 2019 31 justice and justice is the core and bedrock of a civilized society and, thus, any compromise on truth amounts to a compromise on a society’s future as a just, fair and civilized society.”

The apex court said the judicial system had suffered a lot as a consequence of the above mentioned permissible deviation from the truth and it was about time that such a colossal wrong might be rectified in all earnestness.

“Therefore, in light of the discussion made above, we declare that the rule falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus shall henceforth be an integral part of our jurisprudence in criminal cases and the same shall be given effect to, followed and applied by all the courts in the country in its letter and spirit,” the order stated.

The judgement further stated, “It is also directed that a witness found by a court to have resorted to a deliberate falsehood on a material aspect shall, without any latitude, invariably be proceeded against for committing perjury.”